Croydon tram crash: Six men and one woman confirmed dead after Sandilands station tragedy

Six men and one woman died after a tram overturned on a sharp bend in Croydon, British Transport Police have confirmed.

A young child is thought to be among the victims of Britain’s worst tram tragedy in a century, with over 50 other commuters taken to hospital.

A BTP spokesman said: "Following the incident in Croydon yesterday, we can confirm that six men and one woman have sadly died.

"We are working with the Coroner to identify these seven people and their families are being supported by specially trained officers.

"We remain at the scene, where investigations and forensic work continue."

The driver, a 42-year-old man from Beckenham, was today bailed after being questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter.

Tributes: flowers were laid near the scene (Neil Hall/Reuters)

Officers are investigating whether he fell asleep at the wheel.

The two-car tram was packed with commuters heading to East Croydon station to catch trains on to central London when it overturned near the Sandilands stop at 6.10am yesterday.

Rail investigators believe it was travelling at a “significantly higher speed” than the 12mph limit.

Croydon tram overturns

One of the victims has been named as Crystal Palace fan Dane Chinnery, 19, from New Addington, who was on his way to work at a flood response firm in Croydon.

His devastated friends took to social media to pay tribute to the former Addington High School pupil as they called on the club to arrange a minute’s applause in the 19th minute of their next home match.

Wreckage: workers at the scene of the crash today (Steve Parsons/PA )

One wrote: “The life of our brother was taken from him. Aged 19, Dane lost his life with the tram crash on his way to work.

"He was red, white and blue all the way through, and simply loved Palace.”

A friend told the Standard: “It’s tragic, he was so young. He was a lovely guy. really good fun. Everyone is heartbroken. He went to go to work and didn’t come home.”

Today some of the survivors told of their terror as the vehicle "somersaulted" into the air before crashing to a halt.

Victim: Dane Chinnery pictured with his mother Beverley Gray

Rhys McCausland, 19, described the moment he was flung across the carriage, his head was crushed against the ground and the tram windows smashed around him.

He told the Daily Mail: “I rolled on my back. The glass has smashed behind me and my face rolled over the gravel. I was quite lucky not to be trapped like the others.

“There were people flying towards us and bags flying everywhere. It was quite dark at the time and it was still raining.

“At first we didn't know if we were still in the tunnel and we wanted to find a way out. There was no escape from the tram on its side.

Disaster: it is Britain's worst tram tragedy in a century (Neil Hall/Reuters)

“I was in shock. I could feel blood pouring down the side of my face, but I was quite lucky it wasn't worse. I could feel the blood dripping and I was in total shock about what happened.”

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Taiye Ajibola described how the tram somersaulted "one, two, three times" before crashing.

He told ITV how he managed to squeeze himself out of the tram.

Mr Ajibola said: “I thought he (the driver) was going to stop but he couldn’t so he increased the speed. As soon as we got towards the end he increased the speed up and it somersaulted one, two, three and he landed at the other side.”

Mr Ajibola, who suffered injuries to his head, described how he saw someone trapped under the tram who told him: "I'm still alive don't step on me."